By Marty Gordon
In the Christiansburg Town Council’s first meeting of the year, the issue of temporary home rentals in town has been put on hold after several Airbnb owners complained about a planned ordinance that would limit the maximum amount of rental days to 90 days per year.
Airbnb is a global online rental company that lets people rent out property or spare rooms.
There are an estimated 89 Airbnb properties in Christiansburg and more than 340 listed in Montgomery County.
Council members agreed to discuss the matter in a work session on January 17 with a possible vote at the following council meeting slated for January 22.
Although the town has held several public hearings and planning meetings over the last three months, this week, several Airbnb owners said were unaware of the plans to enact a 90-day limit.
Town manager Randy Wingfield explained that the maximum is similar to those followed by neighboring localities like Blacksburg, which established a limiting regulation two years ago.
The Blacksburg ordinance also requires each Airbnb register with the town and sets conditions on the length of stay.
At the heart of the debate is criticism by hotels, motels and bed-and breakfasts that are required to pay both food and motel tax to the towns.
Linda Wurtzburger who operates the Oaks Bed and Breakfast in Christiansburg told council that all she and others want is a level playing field.
“They (Airbnbs) are unregulated hosts, and it’s hard to compete with them,” she said.
In August, Airbnb agreed to collect a seven percent lodging tax from homestays in Blacksburg, remitting it back to the town. At that time, Blacksburg was the second Virginia-locality after Alexandria to reach an agreement with the company.
But Airbnb owners expressed that there is “too much of gray area in the 90-day maximum.”
The company says it will work with any community if that community sees fit to collect a lodging tax.
Most of the temporary rentals are directly connected to Virginia Tech football games and graduations at both VT and Radford University.
The proposed Christiansburg ordinance would be similar to the one approved by Blacksburg adding definitions for “homestay” and “primary residence,” amending the definition of “home occupation,” and adding a regulation for homestay use.
It is proposed that “homestay” would be defined as “an assessor use to a dwelling where the host occupant offers their primary residence or a portion thereof to a guest party for a short-term occupancy for compensation.”
The words “homestay” would also be added to what is defined as an approved “home occupancy” within the town.
In addition, no host occupant would operate a homestay or advertise a residential property for homestay use without first registering and obtaining a permit for homestay with the town.
The host occupant will also register with the finance department to collect and remit transient lodging tax and other applicable fees and taxes.
That the dwelling shall not be rented for more than 90 days in a calendar year is contentious.
The town’s planning commission recommended approval of the ordinance by 8-0 vote at its December 3 meeting.
There are four million Airbnb rentals worldwide, 600,000 in the U.S. and two million people stay in an Airbnb rental “on any given night” according to property rental demographics.
Prices per night vary by city, but average price per night is about $100.
Each locality establishes “homestay” regulations.
The public can attend a work session, but work sessions are not open to public comment.
The special meeting on Thursday, Jan. 17 at 6 p.m. will discuss the proposed homestay ordinances.
For more information, see Chapter 42, “Zoning” of the Christiansburg Town Code for the purpose of permitting and regulating homestay/short-term rentals as accessory uses to residential dwellings and Chapter 18, “Finance and Taxation,” as it relates to the proposed amendment.
In other matters on Tuesday night, council approved a vehicle contract for four new police interceptor utility vehicles from Sheehy Ford in the amount of $120,270. The governmental body also approved a change order for the 2019 primary extension and annual paving.
Adams Construction was awarded a contract to pave Roanoke Street from Tower Road to the town’s corporate limits, 200 feet east of Woodland Drive. The paving will also include College Street from Moose Drive to Depot Street, and Depot Street from West Main to North Franklin Street.
